Kumar Bahukhandi
J&K: Even before the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, a demand has been made to cancel the candidature of a candidate. The National Conference (NC) has filed a written complaint before the Election Commission demanding immediate disqualification of BJP’s Doda East candidate Gajay Singh Rana for allegedly making a communal speech.
A 39-second video clip containing a communal speech allegedly given by Rana is viral in Jammu and Kashmir. In the video, Gajay Singh Rana was giving a speech at a rally in which he can be heard saying that Hindus were the target and Muslims were the criminals in the attacks in Chapnari, Kamalari, Barshalla or Sarthal in Doda district. He can also be heard asking people to unite against such forces.
In the complaint before the Election Commission, NC has demanded immediate disqualification of Rana and registration of an FIR of the law. NC’s complaint said, “BJP candidate from Doda East constituency Gajay Singh Rana has made inflammatory and communal statements during his election campaign for which immediate legal action should be taken. He claimed that the previous and recent violent incidents in the area were not a fight against terrorism but a direct attack on the Hindu community by the Muslim community. He further said that this is not a war between India and terrorists but a war between Hindu and Muslim communities. These statements are not only factually incorrect but are also inciting communal hatred and unrest. Such rhetoric can disturb the peace in an already sensitive area.”
Video tampered
Gajay Singh Rana has said that the video has been tampered with. “The video is of June 19, 2024, when I gave a speech on the anniversary of the martyrs of Chapnari massacre. NC has picked up a selective part of my speech from the video under its agenda. We have the full video.” “On June 19, 1998, terrorists attacked two wedding processions in Chapnari. The wedding guests were asked to get down from the vehicles at gunpoint and were asked for their names. Muslims were let off, 28 Hindus were shot dead.” He said the NC was resorting to such tactics out of fear of defeat. Meanwhile, BJP local unit chief Ravinder Raina said, “This is a fake, fabricated and old video.”
The Sarthal massacre took place on August 14, 1993, in which 17 people lost their lives. The terrorists had hijacked a local bus. The terrorists had killed 16 people in Barshalla on January 5, 1996 and 8 people in Kamalari in the 1990s. Rana is the president of Sanatan Dharm Sabha, Doda. The nomination date for the Doda East assembly constituency ended on Tuesday August 27 . Voting in this constituency is to be held in the first phase on 18 September.
